1. Why you were looking
forward to going to the ground (or not as the case
may be):

The Amex stadium was now one year old and I had
heard from friends who had been to the previous
season’s game at the stadium that it was very
impressive and was a must to visit. Also at a time
where we were getting the very last of the great
British summer the Brighton game seemed a great
game to go.

2.
How easy was your journey/finding the
ground/car parking? The journey wasn’t
great at all to be honest and full of incident. It
started with the alarm clock set for 5AM in the
morning to give me a chance to get ready and have
something to eat before we left. We travelled via
the Middlesbrough club coach which was due to
leave the Riverside Stadium at 6:30am however a
group managed to be 40 minutes late meaning we
didn’t actually leave Middlesbrough until after
seven o'clock. After about three hours of a
relatively innocuous journey we finally managed to
stop at Leicester Forest service’s however due to
the earlier delay where only given 20 minutes for
a loo break and in my case grab a coffee from
Starbucks. On arriving back on the coach it was
discovered that something had been spilt it the
toilet of the coach some kind of de-icer and had
begun to seep through the overhead lockers this
meant yet another unwanted delay. We eventually
arrived at the Amex stadium (which isn’t actually
in Brighton for the record its located in Falmer
about 15 minutes outside Brighton?) at around
1:45pm and parking was very easy as we were on a
registered club coach however I felt for anyone
making their way to the stadium by their own means
as the location and lack of car park space within
stadium grounds was virtually none existent

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy....
home fans friendly?

The stadiums location ruled out a trip to a pub or
chippy as such however we found home fans to be
great one even stopped to change a £10 note for us
so we could get a match day programme which was a
lifesaver at the time as the programme kiosks
where quite unorganised and weren’t prepared for
any walk-ups who had anything over a £5 note. We
had a walk around the stadium and went into the
club shop with all of our colours on display and
had some good friendly banter with the home fans
and even the club mascot gully the seagull got
involved which was quite funny at the time. Even
after the game had finished it was very refreshing
to have fans coming up to us and commenting on how
well we defended one even said that we deserved to
win the game which was a nice compliment.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first
impressions of away end then other sides of the
ground?

The stadium located in between two hills and is it
not at ground level which means that it is not
something that you can spot from a mile away in
fact we didn’t spot it until we were about one
minute away. On first impression the stadium
looked like another new build however actually
arriving the stadium seemed to have character and
charisma about it. The outside of the stadium was
built up with trees and green which is a change to
some of the concrete wastelands I have visited.
Another unusual thing was as I said the stadium
was not at ground level and had steps and a lift
to actually get down to the stadium level when
stood at the top of the stairs you could actually
see inside the stadium. Once at stadium level we
walked around the outside of the stadium and it
was very interesting. They had a brick road
similar to Middlesbrough’s, made up of bricks
bought by fans with various messages on them and
also giant signs as tribute to former players. We
then discovered a rather big club shop easily the
biggest I have ever been in by some distance
however despite this there was still a pretty long
queue to get in which we didn’t mind as it eat up
some time until kick off.

On entering the stadium there was a mandatory
search which is unfortunately a fixture in every
stadium now due to some non-fans. The tickets
where scanned by stewards and was straight through
into the stadium. By now the concourse was heavily
populated with fans watching the live sky game
Spurs v Chelsea. The concourse was very spacious
with plenty of bars and very hygienic toilet
facilities. One feature I did notice was that the
concourse was dimmed and lit in a red light this I
am told is done in accordance with the visiting
teams colours Middlesbrough obviously being red.
On entering the stadium I was very, very impressed
the stadium was very good however the magnificent
two tier Main Stand was magnificent. The opposite
East Stand was also a 2 tier stand and in another
stadium would have been the stand out however the
West Stand was amazing. The opposite home end the
North Stand was very disappointing however it just
seemed to be a very small square stand that in
comparison to the rest of the stadium wasn’t
worthy at all. However I am led to believe the
corners at the North end are going to be filled
just as they are at the South visitors end where
we were actually sat and will surely make that end
a lot better than it currently is and a lot more
atmospheric.

As the stadium began to fill after 2:30pm the
stadiums atmosphere began to crank up. There was
an attendance of around 26,000 at the Amex that
day and it began to tell with the very loud
Albion, Albion and seagull’s chants as kick off
approached the 1300 that came the long trip from
Middlesbrough contributed and responded with 'You
are my Boro..' chants. The stadium PA system was
also very loud which contributed and soon before
kick-off they showed videos on the stadiums two
screens showing the clubs best moments including
their FA cup run in the 1980s. When the teams
emerged from the tunnel they played Sussex by the
sea which again cranked up the noise from the home
end but I have to say the PA announcer got very
excited when announcing the Albion team screaming
and shouting especially when coming to announce
the return of top scorer Craig Mckail-Smith.

View
from the away section

The game started very
cagey with both teams passing the ball around
midfield well without really looking to go forward
much however Brighton soon got on top winning a
series of corner that where well defended by Boro
however soon came a great chance for the home team
when Dean Hammond headed over a great chance from
about 8 yards. It was looking a great game for the
neutrals with both sets off full backs bombing on
into attack in particular Boro’s George Friend and
Brighton’s Wayne Bridge making it an end to end
game. However a massive stroke of luck came Boro’s
way in the 21st minute when Boro’s Marvin Emnes
picked the ball up in an innocuous position out by
the near touchline however he was allowed to come
inside and work the ball into a shooting position
and via a massive deflection from Brighton centre
half Gordan Greer wrong footed Thomas Kuschack in
the Brighton goal and trickled into the net for
1-0 to the Boro.

The home team came roaring back looking for a
response without really creating a decent chance
however that chance came when Wayne Bridge broke
beyond and played a ball across the area for top
scorer Craig Mckail Smith who’s effort seemed
destined for the top corner but for a magnificent
flying save from Boro keeper Jason Steele. After
that the first half petered out and the Boro went
in 1-0 up. In the second half the home team came
out flying from the off looking for the equaliser
and began to push Boro back and back. The home had
another great chance to level when Ashley Barnes
got free in the area and brought a great save from
Steele and Mckail-Smith somehow headed the rebound
over the top Ashley Barnes forced a save from
Steele and Buckley curled wide for the home team
who had a host of nonsense penalty shouts waved
away. Despite the pressure it was Boro who should
have made it 2-0 two minutes from time when sub
Ishmael Miller broke free and went one on one with
Kuschack. Miller beat the keeper but also beat the
far post. After four minutes of stoppage time
agony for Boro fans the referee blew the whistle
on a 1-0 Middlesbrough victory to a massive cheer
from the away
support

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after
the game:

As I said we travelled on the club coach so
getting away wasn’t so bad to be fair but looking
out of the window you had to feel for what looked
hundreds of disappointed Brighton fans stood
fighting to get onto a shuttle bus that ran from
places around Brighton to the Amex stadium it
looked like organised chaos and sorter answered a
question that I had earlier in the match that
around the 80th minute the home team where 1-0
down and pilling on the pressure and yet the
stadium was beginning to empty almost like it was
full time this scene explained it to me. Once away
we soon got back onto the A27 on our long 7 hours
commute back to Middlesbrough

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

It was a great if very tiring day out to the South
Coast that was made all the while by a great win
over a team that at the time where above us in the
league at the time. It was a very long day that
started at 5AM in the morning and finished back at
the riverside stadium at 12:30AM but it was worth
it to see the Boro get 3 points with a very good
defensive display. The Brighton fans and everyone
connected with the club such as stewards where
very welcoming and where great throughout the game
as well. The stadium was very nice and was
everything that I was told was and to be honest
you couldn’t have asked for much more from the
day. We are hoping to push for promotion this
season however when and if the chance arises I
would have no hesitations in re-visiting the Amex
stadium.